We continue with another section of Walter Wink’s “The Human Being.”
According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is not God at the price of emptying me of my humanity; humanity does not consist in letting oneself be sucked dry by a divine vampire! God does not exploit my weakness, but is present precisely in weakness, and gives us strength in our weakness. Authentic Christianity should leave people stronger, not dehumanized.
In our humanity God takes delight and God continues to pull us into our humanity so that we may more completely know what it is to be human…to be made in the image of God…to recognize the depth and width of the human experience that is so far beyond what I may want to call “all of it.” I think I would like to add the point that “authentic Christianity” will leave not just me a stronger person; it will leave the whole community of people stronger. The Holy Spirit makes sure that from the “whole” we receive the gifts of our being that stretches us beyond our own images of humanity. In those images is always included the weaknesses with the strengths as that makes up the whole being of the Christian and the Christian community.
Connection: Imagine yourself becoming stronger through the day as you allow yourself to be more fully human…as in blessed by God.
Creating God, leave us with your Spirit of Power and Gentleness so that we may be at peace with ourselves and be willing to encounter those around us as though we all are taking part in a grand adventure that will continue to shape all of us into your image. Amen.
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